Improvement in can-openee



@uiten tatrs @anni @frn IMPROVEMENT IN GAN-OPENER.

@tI-c; Satanic referat in in tlgrsc Mtns gntrnt mit making gaat nf tige same.

T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERNE Be it known that I, WILLIAM I..- IIUBBEIQT., of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Improvement in Can-Openers; and l do hereby declare the following to'be a full, clear, and enact description of the said invention, reference being had to the" annexe'ddrawing, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure I is a longitudinal section of said eanopener.

Figure 2 is an inverted plan of the same, and "Figure 3 is an elevation ofthe knife separately.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts. l

Can-openers .have heretofore been made, in which thesheet metal is eut by the action of a knife, of a semi circular form, and a cutting tool has been employed to perforate and raise the edges ofthe sheet metal forming the end of the preserve-can. These devices, however, are costly, and some of them are liable to slip when in use. The nature of my said invention consists in an opener for sheet-metal fruit and preservefcans, formed of n. lever, having an adjustible spike, so as to vary the diameter of the disk of sheet metal that s out out by a peculiar knife, that is placed diagonally, so as te cut under and lift up the said disk, and prevent the knife slipping out while in use, and cause thesaid'opener to retain its hold upon the disk of' sheet metal until it is taken 'from the can.

In the drawing a is a handle or lever, curved at b, and c is a spike that is made with a tapering perforating point, and with a screw-shank. Through the lever a are two or more screw-holes to fit the screw-spike c, so

that it may be placed nearer to or further from the cutter d, for forming a larger or smaller opening inv the can.

The cutter d is set into a recess, formed by grooves, on the edges of the lever a, at the curved part 6, so that one edge of the cutter projects below the under side of the lever at an inclination, as shown, so lthatithe cutter isprevented from rising by itsbeing below, and inclining inwards under the edge ofthe disk that is being cut out by revolving either theean er the opener. The edge ofthe cutter d is rounded outwardly, so as not to draw the spike c out of its position, and I form the two ends of the cutter d with Correspondingly-shaped edges, so that the same can be changed end for end.

The mode of" using' this can-opener will be apparent, viz, to thrust the spike into the middle part of the can at the end, and rotate either the can er the opener, after the cutter el has been made to penetrate the sheet metal.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

'The can-opener, formed with the cutter d, made as described, and placed diagonally, in combination with the spike c,.as and for the purposes set forth. y

In witnessnhercof I have hereunto set my signature this sixteenth day of August, 1867.

WM, L. HUBBELL.

Witnesses:

Gao: D. WALKER, GHAS. II. SMITH. 

